On Wednesday 22nd January, a delegation from the NATO Defense College, composed of the Head, Middle East Faculty (MEF) Col G. Morabito (ITA A), Dr J.-L. Samaan (FRA C – Faculty Advisor at the MEF) and Dr B. Smith-Windsor (CAN C – NDC Research Division), was welcomed at the Iraqi National Defence University (NDU) for a two-day workshop on “NATO and the Middle East”. The event is part of the “Defence Education Enhancement Programme” (DEEP), signed between NATO and Iraq.
This educational visit is an opportunity to strengthen NATO’s – and, in particular, the NDC’s – relations with a key ally, who continues to play a crucial role for the Alliance in the state-building process and the security policy of the region.
Upon arrival, the NATO representatives were greeted by the Director of the NDU, LtGen Abbas Beresan Edham, who invited Col Morabito to an official lunch, to discuss matters of common interest.
Dr Samaan opened the working session with a lecture given in Arabic, on “NATO in the Middle East: history and prospects”, providing the audience with a comprehensive overview of NATO’s engagement in the region for over two decades, with emphasis on NATO’s partnerships – the Mediterranean Dialogue (MD) and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) – and on the setting up of the NATO Training Mission in Iraq (NTM-I). The seminar was attended by more than 40 Generals and by the entire University Command group, thus marking the importance attached to the event.
Following a lively Q&A session, Col Morabito gave a presentation of NDC activities and spoke about possible future cooperation between the College and the Iraqi authorities, in the field of education and research. In particular, he flagged the next NATO Regional Cooperation Course (NRCC 11): this will start on 6th March, when the MEF will be pleased to welcome three new Iraqi Course Members.
Later on, Col Morabito and Dr Smith-Windsor held the first “Crisis Management Exercise”. This was a novel experience for the NDU, and met with great success. Using a case study, the NDC delegation gave a demonstration of decision making in a cooperative environment, and of how vital it is in order to confront key contemporary issues, such as terrorism, environmental degradation, humanitarian assistance, as well as concerns with governance.
The second day of the visit was entirely dedicated to “Crisis Management Exercise” activities, run by Col Morabito and Dr Smith-Windsor.
At the close of the visit, the NDC delegation met the Italian Ambassador in Iraq, H.E. Massimo Marotti, for an appraisal of this important event, since, at present, the Italian Embassy in Baghdad is the NATO contact embassy in Iraq.
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